TRAVERSE CITY — The kettlebell looks innocent enough.
Almost like, as its name suggests, it could steam and chirp cheerfully each morning on a stove top.
A black handle curves to attach at two points to a brightly colored, bulbous weight. When gripped by hand and swung rapidly through the legs or hoisted above the head, the kettlebell's true potential as an exercise aid emerges.
Kettlebell is both a workout and a competitive sport with Russian roots. It aims to build solid movement skills and train the entire body, including the posterior side, as an integrated unit. Compared to lifting dumbells, the kettlebell seems to soar fluidly as one move links to the next.
"It's playful, and it's fun. It's not so static," said local trainer Erik Petersen, who teaches kettlebell classes and has trained extensively in the method.
Petersen led three trim women through exercises during a recent evening session at his brother's Rock Bottom Gym in Traverse City. Women usually start with an 18- to 26-pound bell. Men begin with a 35- to 44-pound bell, Petersen said.
The bells are portable, so they can be used indoors during the winter and outside in warmer months. The workout provides both cardiovascular and strength training in "one package," and requires less time than other workouts, he said. Each session can be wrapped up in 45 minutes or less.
"For the last year I've been doing nothing but kettlebells and body-weight exercises, and I used to spend hours a day riding my bike," said Petersen.
He's spreading the kettlebell message through his own classes, a planned "sampler" class in June through Northwestern Michigan College's Extended Educational Services, and workouts with employees at a Traverse City factory and with local high school football players.
Marty Watts, of Traverse City, attends Petersen's classes. She's done different kinds of exercise but appreciates the "intense, short" workout the bells give. A key, she said, is learning the right way to use them and move the body.
"I am now hooked on this," Watts said.
Petersen preaches the importance of learning how to use the bells correctly instead of relying on Internet videos or just picking them up. A trainer will teach the right movement, help select the best bell weight and provide motivation.
"It's one of those things, like pilates, where you really need to have someone train you, at least initially," he said.
Learning proper technique is important because it guards against injury, said Diane Burden, of Traverse City. Her friend Watts told her about Petersen's classes. Burden, who usually prefers individual exercises like running, gave it a try.
"You don't need a lot of upper-body strength to do this because you are using the core of your body and your legs to move that thing," Burden said.
She's lifted kettlebells since early March and likes how she feels and the results she sees.
"At the end of that 30- to 40-minute time period my body knows it has worked, but it's happy. It's not achy," Burden said.
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